Mass' Concluding Rite is very short

The Concluding Rite, which is very short, follows the Liturgy of the Word, the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the Communion Rite. In the Prayer after Communion, we thank God for the gift of His Son, whom we have received in Communion, and ask that we be faithful in serving Him in our daily live...Read full story »

Wednesday, April 04, 2018

From the Lord's Prayer to the Rite of Peace

Following the Lord’s Prayer, the priest prays the “embolism” meaning “insertion.” This prayer, inserted after the Lord’s Prayer, was prayed quietly by the priest. Today it is recited aloud. The embolism accentuates the final petition of the Lord...Read full story »

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Communion Rite prepares us worthily and consciously

Just as we are fed by God’s Word in the Liturgy of the Word, following the Eucharistic Prayer we will soon be fed with our Lord’s Body and Blood. The Communion Rite prepares us to receive Communion more worthily and consciously. It consists of the Lord’s Prayer, emboli...Read full story »

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Doxology concludes the Eucharistic Prayer

With the chalice and paten held aloft (beginning in the 7th century in Rome), the Eucharistic Prayer concludes with the doxology: “Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours for ever and ever. Amen.”...Read full story »

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Intercessions for the deceased in Eucharistic Prayers

The final intercessions in the Eucharistic Prayer are prayers for the deceased. We remember Christians, as well as all the departed “whose faith only God can know” (EP IV). In Eucharistic Prayer III the Church prays: “To our departed brothers and sisters and to a...Read full story »

Thursday, January 04, 2018

Eucharistic prayers include intercessions

Following the Church’s Offering or Oblation, various intercessions are offered. When these intercessions no longer concluded the Liturgy of the Word, they were transferred to the Eucharistic Prayer bringing them into closer proximity to the Consecration of the Body and Blood of Christ.&...Read full story »

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

A closer look at the Oblation in Eucharistic Prayers

Combined with the Memorial of the Lord’s Death and Resurrection is the Offering of the Sacrifice, which is also called the Oblation. The Church gathered in prayer, having fulfilled the Lord’s command to remember him, now offers the sacrifice of Christ. The author to the Lett...Read full story »

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Eucharistic Prayers recall God's work through Jesus

In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul mentions that when the people celebrate the Lord’s Supper, “Whenever you eat this bread, then, and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The Eucharistic Prayer of the Galli...Read full story »

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Examining the Eucharistic Prayer's memorial and offering

Following the Consecration, the priest continues with the prayer consisting of two parts – the memorial and the offering. The memorial recalls the eternal salvation Jesus accomplished for us in his death and resurrection. This memorial prayer is not “recalling” a memor...Read full story »

Thursday, November 02, 2017

What Jesus did, and what we do

The Institution Narrative and Consecration recall what Jesus did at the Last Supper – and what the worshipping assembly is doing here and now in his memory. The words of Institution used in the Eucharistic Prayer are worded differently from the words found in the New Testament. Th...Read full story »